


A Flight of Sparrows

by inkandpaperhowl



Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, vague Rise of Iron spoilers?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 03:25:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9053281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkandpaperhowl/pseuds/inkandpaperhowl
Summary: A Guardian who isn’t very good at being a Guardian finds herself faced with her sister and a new mission–neither of which she’s sure she’s ready for.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FeatherWriter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeatherWriter/gifts).



> I play Destiny pretty much only when Alyx is around to keep me from dying constantly, and when the Dawning update went live, I made a warlock and decided to get her new gear solely though sparrow racing. I accidentally made her look a lot like Alyx’s existing warlock, and we decided they must be sisters. This fic spawned from the idea that while Sylvanni–Alyx’s warlock–was out doing story quests and saving the world, Vekori–mine–was professionally racing sparrows and only “leveled” by doing secret, non-canon missions for Ikora. Anyway, I hope it makes sense, and understand that there will probably be more because in this game, the only decent story content is that which we make ourselves.

. 

Vekori was shocked when she pulled up across the finish line, halting her sparrow with a sharp slide to the side, to find her sister glaring at her from the front row of the stands. She shook her hair free of her helmet, running her hand through the sweat-soaked length of it until it stood up in its dramatic, sinuous blue line across the back of her shaved head. She ignored the other five racers as they slid to their own stops, kicking up the dust of Mars in their wakes. She also ignored the cheers from the crowd gathered at the finish line, and turned to her ghost, checking her times. A full three seconds faster than her last race on this track, and a full six seconds before the second place runner up. She smiled lazily and patted her sparrow fondly.

“Just like always,” she said.

“Indeed,” her ghost said, and there was a vaguely disgruntled tone to his electronic voice.

She raised her eyebrow. “Is that urge to get out and murder things turning up again, D-bot?” she asked lightly. Her ghost did not deign to respond. She grinned and dismounted her sparrow, letting her ghost transmat it up to her ship in orbit while she squinted over at her sister and sighed. She sauntered more than walked to the barrier between the crowd and the track, picking up her coat from where it was slung over the rail and shrugging it on.

“Sis,” she said evenly. “Fancy seeing you here.”

Sylvanni raised her own eyebrow, and swept her blue fringe to the side and tucked it behind her ear, practical and demure as always. “Vekori,” she said, crossing her arms. “Nice to see you, too.”

“Oh good,” Vekori said. “I couldn’t tell, with that thunder on your face, if that was true. And I’m the Stormcaller.”

Sylvanni clicked her tongue in something like disapproval. Vekori shrugged. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s the Dawning,” Sylvanni said. “Thought I’d come say hi to the little family I have.”

“Is it already?” Vekori asked, glancing up at the sun, as if that would tell her what time of year it was. “Want to join me for a race then? They let all you amateurs in at the holiday.”

Sylvanni’s frown flashed into a wicked grin for a moment before settling back into the disapproval it was accustomed to when looking at Vekori. “It would hardly be a fair race if I ran,” she said. Vekori opened her mouth to spit something back, but reconsidered. Sylvanni, when she put her mind to it, was probably the better racer of the two of them. Not that Vekori would ever admit it.

“If you’re not here to race, what are you here for?” she asked instead, starting to walk up the track, parallel to the barrier, heading for the exit where she and Sylvanni could find a quieter, more private place to chat. She made a mental note to send her ghost for her winnings at some point, since she wasn’t going to drag Sylvanni to the track’s office to get her glimmer right now.

Sylvanni followed her, hesitating briefly as if she were deciding what to say–or how to say it. She watched Vekori with the sort of calculating look in her eyes that the younger Duv had learned a long time ago meant that she wasn’t going to like what her sister had to say, and that Sylvanni knew that and was going to say it anyway. Vekori held her breath in anticipation of an exasperated sigh.

“I need you to come with me to the Cosmodrome,” Sylvanni said finally, as Vekori came around the barrier and headed for the track’s lockers to pick up her guns.

She snorted with laughter. “Can’t,” she said immediately. “Next race is on Mercury. You’re welcome to join. It’s the track you like with the Vex-gate jumps.”

“Vek, I’m serious,” Sylvanni said, putting her hand on Vekori’s arm to turn her sister to look at her. Vekori blinked at the look in her eyes–almost…desperate?

“What use could I possibly be in the Cosmodrome?” Vekori asked, tugging her arm out of Sylvanni’s grasp and slinging her sniper rifle over that shoulder as she stuffed her hand canon into its holster at the small of her back.

“You’re a Guardian, Vekori,” Sylvanni snapped, eyes flashing in annoyance. “You could act like it every once in a while.”

“I keep telling her the same thing.” Vekori’s ghost floated up beside her head, its lights dimmed to match its glum tone.

Vekori rolled her eyes. “Yes, like you, Sylv, Desmobot does not approve of the sparrow racing career.”

“I don’t approve of you calling me ‘Desmobot,’ either,” the ghost muttered. Vekori ignored it.

“Listen, Ikora knows where to find me if she has a mission for me,” she said, slamming the locker closed and striding away from her sister. “But if you want me to just go out there and murder Fallen until I die again, I’m out.”

“I’m pretty sure your ghost picked you for more than just the way you handle a sparrow,” Sylvanni said heatedly, matching Vekori’s pace. “You’re a _Guardian_. You’re meant for more than crashing and burning on some speedy thrill ride.”

“Excuse you, I do not crash and burn.”

“Often,” her ghost added helpfully. She turned to glare at it, but it just ducked behind her sheepishly.

“I told you, I wouldn’t be any help to you,” Vekori protested again, turning to her sister. “You know I’m rubbish with this thing.” She tapped the hand canon behind her back.

“Oh please,” Sylvanni said, rolling her eyes. She glanced around them, but they’d come far enough from the track that there was nothing but rocks against the usual backdrop of dunes that Mars was so famous for. “I know about the Hidden.”

Vekori blinked, stilling suddenly. She, too, glanced around them, as if checking for eavesdroppers, and her fingers tightened slightly on the strap of her sniper rifle. “What?”

“Ikora told me,” Sylvanni said. “When she recruited you. I suppose she didn’t want me to worry.” She gestured back toward the track. “It’s a good cover. Gives you a nice excuse to be on any planet at any given time.”

Vekori blinked again, glancing at the track. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Sylvanni sighed. “Well, this is going to get exhausting. I thought you’d come if I just asked you, but if you need more reason, here.” She held up her open palm and her ghost materialized there expectantly. “Ghost,” she said lightly, “can you pull up the record of my last briefing with Cayde and Ikora?”

“Certainly,” the ghost said smoothly. Vekori wrinkled her nose. It was always weird to hear other ghosts speak–they all had slight differences in tone and voice, but her sister’s was close enough to hers for them to be brothers. Which was weird in and of itself. A moment later, Cayde-6’s voice buzzed out of the little machine.

“We’ve had contact from an old friend–or acquaintance? something like that anyway. Saladin Forge. Needs our help with some Iron Lords stuff.”

Sylvanni’s voice emanated next, as the real version of her standing by crossed her arms. “I thought the Iron Lords were all gone.”

“No,” Ikora’s voice never brooked any argument. “Saladin’s been alone a long time, though. But Saladin’s concern–and the fact that he’s reaching out to us–spells trouble.”

“And that’s never a good thing,” Cayde said, though the amusement in his tone belied his excitement. Vekori rolled her eyes. “Anyway, he’s got wind of something nasty happening down in the Cosmodrome. Actually, in the dark area next to the Cosmodrome. Possibly House of Devils.”

“There’s been a lot of movement lately at an abandoned observatory in the mountains,” Ikora continued. The House of Devils has been looking into Golden Age research labs, and they seem fixed on this one in particular.”

“Saladin requested we send someone to check it out. That’d be lucky you,” Cayde said.

“The Hidden are used to this sort of mission, and since she’s the best set of eyes I have at my disposal, take your sister.” Ikora’s voice was even, though the recording of Sylvanni made a noise of protest.  “That won’t be a problem for you, will it?”

“Not at all,” Sylvanni said.

The younger Duv sighed. “All right, all right, that’s enough, Dinklebot,” she said, throwing her hands up in defeat.

“Excuse me?” Sylvanni’s ghost said, turning to look at her. Despite the fact that it was a light in a metal shell, it did a good job of looking offended.

“It won’t work if we’re both calling for just ‘ghost’ all through the mission, so you’re getting a name, too,” Vekori explained bluntly.

“Okay, but _Dinklebot_?” the little robot muttered, outraged.

Vekori ignored it. “I guess we’re going to Old Russia. But we need to stop at the Tower first. I’m not going out into the field in my racing suit. I want armor.”

Sylvanni shrugged. “So long as you don’t try to run away to Mercury while I’m not looking. If I have to get my ghost to hitch your ship to mine and tow you through space, I will.”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Vekori said, bumping her shoulder into her sister’s. “I’d have to run much further than Mercury to escape Ikora’s wrath if I disobeyed orders.”

Sylvanni huffed. “I see how it is,” she said. “You listen to Ikora’s orders and ignore me genuinely asking for help.”

“Well, Ikora is about fifty times scarier than you, Sylv.”

“I can be scary, if I want to. Just ask the Vex. Or the Hive. Or the Fallen. Or the–”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, I get it,” Vekori said, sighing. “You’ve been off saving the world, and all I’ve been doing is losing Cayde all the glimmer he bets on me.”

“If he bets on you and you win, doesn’t that make him glimmer?” Sylvanni asked.

Vekori smiled a wicked grin. “Oh, no, if he bets on me, I throw the race. Can’t have that annoying robot getting rich off of my decent driving skills.”

Sylvanni looked at her sister with something like affection in her smile for the first time since she’d spotted her at the end of the race. “You’re a horrible person, you know that?”

Vekori laughed. “You make a point to tell me every time you see me, so yes.” She glanced at her sister, running her hands through her hair again, making it stand up on end a little straighter. “It’s good to see you, Sylv.”

Sylvanni smiled and hugged her sister briefly. “Good to see you, too.”

Vekori held on a moment longer, a little tighter, forgetting for a moment the annoyed little sister part she always played around Sylvanni. She pulled away, smiling, and nodded to her ghost. “Off we go, Desmobot,” she said. “See you on the Tower.”

Sylvanni nodded, and turned to her own ghost, preparing for transmat to her ship. “Don’t get lost.”

“And leave you to face the Cosmodrome without me? Never.” Sylvanni disappeared before she could respond, and the next thing Vekori knew, she was also fuzzing out in the familiar, vaguely unpleasant feeling of transmatting up to space.

.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas, Feather!!!!! <3


End file.
